1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus and method for updating channel information in a mobile communication terminal. More particularly, the present invention relates to an apparatus and method for updating channel information over a mobile communication network, rather than over a Digital Multimedia Broadcasting (DMB) network, in a mobile communication terminal which supports DMB reception.
2. Description of the Related Art
Digital Multimedia Broadcasting (DMB) is a broadcasting service provided by digitizing various multimedia signals such as audio and video. In particular, the DMB allows a user on the move to receive various multimedia broadcasts using a personal portable receiver or a vehicular receiver including a non-directional reception antenna.
As a conventional mounting technique of a memory for storing mass digital multimedia (e.g., moving pictures and music videos) advances and mobile communication terminals are used, mobile communication terminals capable of receiving the DMB have been developed and commercialized. Hence, users may view the DMB using a mobile communication terminal which supports the DMB reception while moving. That is, the mobile communication terminal supporting the DMB reception, which is portable and mobile, allows the DMB viewing regardless of the time and place of a user carrying the mobile communication terminal.
The DMB is classified to one of a terrestrial DMB and a satellite DMB, according to the data transmission means. The terrestrial DMB transmits the broadcast to the DMB reception terminal via a base station of a terrestrial broadcasting station (e.g., Munhwa Broadcasting Corporation (MBC), Korean Broadcasting System (KBS), Seoul Broadcasting System (SBS), Educational Broadcasting System (EBS), etc.), and uses frequencies corresponding to 174˜216 MHz. In the satellite DMB, when a broadcasting provider transmits the broadcast signal to a satellite, the satellite receives and retransmits the broadcast signal to the DMB reception terminal. A separate repeater may be installed in a weak signal ‘shadow’ area, for example, in a subway or between tall buildings, where it is hard to receive the broadcast signal directly from the satellite. Currently, the satellite DMB uses frequencies of 2,605˜2,655 MHz.
The DMB provides regional broadcasting using different frequencies per region, rather than providing nationwide broadcasting using a single frequency all over the nation. Accordingly, when a DMB user travels into a new service region, he/she needs to update information (i.e., the center frequency information of the channel) relating to the corresponding regional broadcasting channel to receive the broadcast in the new service region. To do so, the DMB user needs to search for available nearby frequencies using a channel scan function of the terminal, and thus may select his/her intended channel from the searched frequency list. However, when the searched frequency list does not include the frequency corresponding to the intended channel because the nearby signal at the corresponding location is too weak and all the center frequencies for the channels serviced in the corresponding region are not scanned, the DMB user must continue scanning the available nearby frequencies using the channel search function in order to search for his/her intended channel. In result, considerable time is taken to scan the channels.